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Wednesday, 28 January 2015

To Knit or Not to Knit, That is the Question...

It's not whether to knit or not - that is never a question. The question is, WHAT to knit. I am doing my best Hamlet impression and dithering around.

I have my lovely Rowan Worsted Yarn, (makes me smile just thinking of the bargain I got!) and now I'm ready to knit with it.

Such a gorgeous colour - it's called crimson. I have had on my wish list for quite some time, a cute little cropped cardigan called Miette. A free pattern. Here's the pattern photograph.

The pattern is by Andi Satterlund, and it's very popular on Ravelry. There's some really lovely interpretations of this pattern, which have all inspired me.

So, now in possession of the appropriate yarn, I'm already to cast on.

This is a top-down, knitted in one piece cardigan. And that's where the problem lies. I am extremely sceptical that I will like the fit of the finished cardigan.

I have tried only one top-down pattern before and I gave up at the armholes because I didn't like the shoulder shaping.

I'm an old-fashioned girl, brought up on bottom-up knitting, all done in pieces and seamed together at the end. Whilst I am more than happy to embrace new ideas and give them a try, the internet has made available so many tutorials, I find that the fashion for one piece knitting and no seaming compromises on shape. What's wrong with a bit of seaming anyway?

I prefer my sleeves set in at the shoulder, shaped to my armhole. I prefer the shoulders of my cardigan to actually sit on my own shoulders rather than form a funnel shape as some of the yoked cardigans do.

So I've cast on for Miette, but I'm not convinced.

That shoulder looks very narrow!

As I started knitting, I made a back-up plan for what to knit if (and more probably, when) I rip out the Miette. This Kim Hargreaves cardigan, called Searing, is a possibility.

Neither of them get me excited in the way that Miette did. And Miette is such a nice sounding name for a cardigan, don't you think? I won't know until I try it whether top-down will be my new favourite way to knit (I can't see it myself).

Then, on my walk this morning (I do my best thinking early in the morning pounding the pavement listening to the sound of the dawn chorus), I had an idea. What if I knit Miette bottom-up with set-in sleeves? I could reconfigure the pattern, keeping the essence of the original cardigan but making sure that I'm happy with the fit.

I like the eyelet detail around the neckline.

So I'm not going to rip out what I've done so far of Miette, I'll put it to one side, I may continue for a bit more, say up to the armholes (or should I say "down" to the armholes!), just to see how the shoulders sit, but then I'll think about whether Miette is "To be or not to be".

In the meantime, I think I need a lie down, all this dithering has fair worn me out.

5 comments:

Your post made me smile, I wish I had enough talent with knitting to dither about it. The best I can manage is bootees or mittens for a baby when all I have to dither about is the colour of the yarn. Have a great day.

Go with your instinct Janet. That wool is too gorgeous to mess about with. I personally think you have more control of how the finished garment will look if it is seamed . It firms it up. Gives it body. Only tried top down once. Didn't like all those stitches on and I found it too awkward to hold. I'm an old fashioned knitter too. Nothing wrong with that. Ha ha.

Oh good, you were just teasing us until the end. I kept thinking you could just use the trim features on a seamed sweater. Also, Elizabeth Zimmerman aded short rows to th back of in-the-round yokes to improve the neckline fit. I wonder if it would work to add short rows to the sleeves to make a slight pouch over the shoulders.

I live in Liverpool, UK, with my wonderful husband. I have two amazing girls, who are all grown up now and have flown the nest. I love knitting, crocheting and many more crafts - I'm happiest when I'm creating.
I love being inspired by the blogs I read and the pictures I see on Pinterest. I hope that, in turn, I can be an inspiration, through my blog, to others.

All the patterns on my blog are free for you to download for your personal use - I enjoy sharing. However, they are my patterns so please respect my work and do not sell the patterns or anything made from the patterns for profit. Thank you.